Of the numerous romantic notions surrounding the writing life, perhaps none dies harder than that of the solitary, ink-stained wretch plugging away at his or her latest work in some dilapidated garret, alone and unnoticed and oblivious to what’s going on around him or her. Writing may be a solitary act, but as any intellectually honest writer can tell you, writers need communities: first, because the realities of today’s writing life necessitate that one be ready to advertise your latest wares publicly (by going on book tours, giving readings, participating in conferences, etc.). And second, because writers need a literary “scene” in the same way that musicians and artists need a scene: for support and assurance, to cheer each other on (as well as gossip about), and finally to lean on when the words won’t come, or when the critics are busy carpet-bombing your latest effort.

Were you to decide to become part of DC’s literary community, it would only be a short while before you encountered C.M. Mayo. One of the mainstays on the local literary scene, the ubiquitous Mayo seems to have her hand everywhere as she helps forge the burgeoning local literary community. Of course, forging communities, bringing people together, seems to come naturally to Mayo: stressing the bilingual aspect of her own work, she’s the founding editor of Tameme, the bilingual Spanish/English chapbook press, and she’s also a translator of contemporary Mexican poetry and fiction. Her anthology of Mexican fiction in translation, Mexico: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, was published by Whereabouts Press in March 2006.

But she’s more than a translator and cheerleader. She’s won numerous national literary awards and has an international profile. Her stories, essays and poems have appeared in numerous U.S. literary magazines including Chelsea, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Kenyon Review, The North American Review, The Paris Review, Southwest Review, Tin House and Witness, as well as in the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. She’s also won the Flannery O’Conner Award for Short Fiction, has been a resident at Yaddo and MacDowell writing colonies and won fellowships at numerous writing conferences, including Sewanee and Breadloaf. That she’s able to do this while splitting her time between Washington, D.C. and Mexico City only hammers home the point.

C.M. Mayo is like both the cities she calls home: hard-working and international in outlook. DCist caught up with her and asked her about the local literary scene and how it informs her own work.

Filed Under: Angeles, Chelsea, city, dcist, Dcist interview, gossip, house, international, Los, los angeles, Los Angeles Times, magazines, Mexico City, North American, paris, Paris Review, people, poetry, review, The Paris Review, Wall Street, wall street journal, washington,